Judith Slaying Holofernes

In a time when women were not allowed to own paints Artemisia Gentileschi painted women beheading men.

She worked in the dark silently and bravely. Depicting rape, and anger, pain and truth. In many ways, she drove herself insane giving herself away to the oils that would mark her down in history. A nineteenth-century critic commented on Artemisia's Magdalene stating, "no one would have imagined that it was the work of a woman. The brush work was bold and certain, and there was no sign of timidness". And it’s safe to say- nothing is timid about beheading a general. Or painting a masterpiece.

Judith Slaying Holofernes (Artemisia Gentileschi, Naples)